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What Causes An Enlarged Lymph Node In The Portacaval Space?
Question: I was referred to a surgical oncologist by a gastroenterologist dr because of an incidental finding of portal caval adenopathy. Nor sure if there is more than one but I saw one is 16mm. Does this mean he is fairly certain i have cancer? Why else would he send me there?
Brief Answer:
Not certain but suspicious
Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for your query.
This is actually an incidental finding. Sometimes there are normal nodes visible on CT scans. Usually they are upto 10 mm in size. So 16 mm is suspicious. But at the same time, the CT did not show anything else, so possibility of cancer is low.
He has referred you for further evaluation to rule out cancer, not because he is fairly certain of cancer. I think you may need a whole body PET scan. If that shows something suspicious, then only further work up like biopsy will be required.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Not certain but suspicious
Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for your query.
This is actually an incidental finding. Sometimes there are normal nodes visible on CT scans. Usually they are upto 10 mm in size. So 16 mm is suspicious. But at the same time, the CT did not show anything else, so possibility of cancer is low.
He has referred you for further evaluation to rule out cancer, not because he is fairly certain of cancer. I think you may need a whole body PET scan. If that shows something suspicious, then only further work up like biopsy will be required.
Hope this helps.
Regards
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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